Plug-in vehicles remain to be popular in the Chinese auto market.
CleanTechnica noted that its sales grew 78 percent year-over-year (YoY) in September and had a new record of about 636,000 registrations last month. Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) rose to 148 percent YoY and reached their fifth record month of 161,000 registrations in September.
In addition, battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) grew 62 percent, with a record of 475,000 units in just a month.
Overall, PHEVs hit about 35 percent market share with its September record performance. If only the passenger car market had not grown, the share might have gone high by 10 percent.
BEVs amounted to 26 percent of China’s auto sales last month. This year’s share pulled to 29 percent PHEVs and 22 percent BEVs.
This assumes that if electrified vehicles continue at this speed, a plug-in share might reach 45 percent. And all-electric vehicles, with a 33 percent share of the Chinese market, will grow 50 percent share by 2025.
Another indicator of the significance of this market is that China presented over half of global PHEVs registrations last month.
Top 10 Vehicle Models in China
It is worth noting that this high market share results in the plug-in market combined with the overall market. There are 7 plug-in models, with only 3 internal combustion engine (ICE) models in the top 10 below.
2. BYD Song
5. BYD Qin Plus
6. VW Lavida
7. BYD Han
9. BYD Dolphin
10. Toyota Corolla
Top 5 in Plug-in Category
Moreover, the top 5 in the plug-in category alone for the last month include:
1. Tesla Model Y
Tesla Model Y won the monthly plug-in category and also had its spot in the overall auto market with a record of 46,694 deliveries last month. However, unlike its success last June, the model could not reach the 50,000 unit threshold. It finished with an average of 28,710 units per month for the third quarter.
It may not reach its unit threshold because the company exhausted its order backlog before the month ended, having the company export the last week of September’s production to overseas markets and offering insurance subsidies to move metal.
Furthermore, the manufacturer expects demands to be at their current level without needing to offer price cuts.
2. BYD Song Plus (BEV + PHEV)
The model continues to present its success story. The midsized SUV continues to surge its deliveries. The plug-in version had a record of 39,983 registrations last month, whereas BEV achieved a record of 5,951 registrations with a new record total of 45,934 registrations.
That drove it to reach a quarterly average of 42,066 units per month for the last quarter. However, the rise should start to slow down due to getting closer to reaching the market’s limits.
3. Wuling HongGuang Mini EV
The four-seater Wuling HongGuang Mini reached a record of 34,416 registrations last month. It also got a quarterly average of 36,137 units per month in the third quarter. The model bagged several big trophies in the Chinese market along the way.
4. BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV)
This midsized sedan got a record of 36,058 registration in September, making its way into the 4th spot. Both versions recorded 24,452 units for the plug-in and 11,606 for the BEV. In its quarterly average, the BYD model achieved 33,946 units per month in the third quarter.
In addition, the BYD Destroyer 05 PHEV had its spot in 16 with 9,101 units, while the BYD SealBEV has its place in 19 with 7,473 units.
5. BYD Han (BEV + PHEV)
BYD’s flagship sedan reached 31,497 registrations last month. Both versions recorded 18,267 for the PHEV and 13,230 registrations for the BEV version. Its PHEV result presents a more than 5,000 unit increase over its previous record in August.
It has a quarterly average of 27,585 units per month in the third quarter, which puts the yearly average over 330,000 units. This begins to close in on the Mercedes-Benz E-Class’ global numbers.
In addition to bagging three models in the top 5, the Chinese automaker also had BYD Dolphin in #7 with a record of 24,956 registrations. In #8 ranks Yuan Plus with 23,069 registrations and #9 for Tang with 15,058 registrations.
Notably, this sets the brand’s sales lineup in every category: Dolphin in subcompact, Han in full size, Yuan leading in the compact, and Song in the midsize category. Also noting the upcoming BYD Seagull, the manufacturer’s future representative in the city electric vehicle category.
EV Record Scores
Other models also achieved record scores, such as GAC’s dynamic duo with GAC Aion S in #10 with 13,522 registrations and Aion Y in #11 with 13,408 registrations. In #12 with Hozon’s Neta V with 11,935 registrations.
Li Xiang L9 landed the #13 spot. Moreover, a Cadillac Escalade-sized land yacht with about 10,000 deliveries a month. This proves Chinese EV industry that it was able to deliver huge EV numbers in nearly every category and size of the automotive market.
#14 also spots Changa Lumin with 10,010 registrations. It is the automaker’s new star player and is an essential player in the city EV category.
While the Zeekr 001 continues to surge, landing #18 for the last month with 8,276 units. The Geely Geometry A/G6 wins #20 with 7,293 registrations, and Geely Emgrand EV with 5,964 registrations.
Finally, it also highlights Leap Motor C01 with 4,398 registrations. The AITO’s M7 flagship SUV, with 4,746 registrations in only its 3rd month in the market.
The leading positions are still the same in this year’s ranking. While the BYD Song lessens the distance with Wuling Mini EV to over 30,000 units.
Tesla Model 3 managed to land a few positions due to its end-of-quarter record month, rising to the #8 position. With five BYD models, Model Y and Wuling Mini EV surpass it quarterly.
Another model climbing the ranks is the GAC Aion Y which landed three positions to #10. Its other model, Aion S, was up in #14.
In the second half of the electric car sales, a change in position happened to #18, the Great Wall Ora Good Cat exceeding XPeng P7.
Going beyond the top 20, Dongfeng E-Series spots #21 with 49,725 registrations. It is 249 units behind #20 Leap Motor T03.
Auto Brands in EV sales
Top auto brands in electric car sales include: BYD (28.9 percent from 28.4 percent share), SGMW (8.7%, down 0.4% share), Tesla (7.9% from 7.1%), Chery (4.5%, down 0.3%), and GAC (4.5%).
In addition, Volkswagen (3.5%, down from 3.8%), Geely rose to #6 (3.8% from 3.6%)
Overall market brand ranking spots BYD as #2 last month, behind Volkswagen, whereas Tesla got #6.
In its Year to date (YTD), BYD presents as the third biggest seller, just behind Volkswagen and Toyota. Tesla achieved the second best-selling U.S brand in China, just behind Buick.
Top Auto Brands in China’s PHEV Market
In automotive groups/electric car space alliances/OEMs, BYD leads with 28.9%, while SAIC has 11.3%, down from 12%. Tesla holds last place with 7.9%.
Off the EV sales podium, #4 sees Geely-Volvo with 5.6% from 5.4% share, GAC on #5 with 4.7%, and Chery on #6 with 4.6%, down from 4.9%. Volkswagen Group sits at #7 with 4.1%, down from 4.3%, and Dongfeng in #8 with 3.9%.
From the previous year’s perspective, BYD rose 1% in PHEV market share, SAIC was down 8%, Geely-Volvo gained 3%, Tesla lost 2%, and GAC increased 1.7%, Chery down 0.9%, and VW remained the same.
Predicting performance in the new future expects BYD to be the winner in 2023 still. Geely-Volvo is to steal the spot from SAIC, and Tesla will need to defend its place in GAC, whereas Volkswagen remains out of the top 5.
Going further in 2024, Volkswagen Group might be in a position to challenge Tesla in China to be the Best Selling Foreign OEM.
